3rd February: East Ukraine is officially recognized as being a part of Russia.

18th February: The Panama Canal Expansion Project is completed.

The Dalian-Yantai project

8th March: The Construction of the Dalian-Yantai begins, it will be completed in 2020.It surpasses the combined length of the world's two longest undersea tunnels – Japan's Seikan Tunnel and the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France. With previous journeys cut by 800 miles, it forms a vital high-speed rail link between the north and south of the country, boosting economic growth significantly.

18th March: The law requiring all dogs to be microchipped in England comes into Place.

12th May: India launches its first independent manned space mission.

1st July: Kovosso joins the EU

17th June: Russian space group, Energiya, launches the world's first space hotel in partnership with US firm Orbital Technologies. Capable of housing up to seven people, it offers spectacular views of the Earth and includes a menu crafted by celebrity chefs. It also functions as a possible emergency refuge for astronauts from the International Space Station.

Rand Paul, the 45th President of the United States of America

Robots are now widespread in the Agricultural Department.

17th August: The European Parliament is granted more power to enforce laws in EU Member countries.

20th August: A pill preventing Sunburn is released to the public.

8th November: Rand Paul is elected President of the USA beating Hillary Clinton (53%-45%). He promises to withdraw troops from combat with ISIS and to repeal the Drone programme.

21st November: Belarus is Annexed into The Russian Federation after the Minsk Agreement. A referendum is held and wins /58%/.

1st December: The Gortthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland is completed after 20 years of construction.

3rd December: More than 100 years after the ill-fated voyage of RMS Titanic, an exact replica is built and launched by the Australian billionaire Clive Palmer. The boat sails from China – where it is constructed – to Southampton in England ahead of her maiden passenger journey to New York. Guests include leading U.S. business figures and world leaders, who are treated to a dinner from the same menu as Titanic passengers on the day it sank.

EU member states 2017. Turkey is a Candidate and is expected to join by 2026

June 8th: In a day that comes to be known as Enlargement Day in the EU, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia Herzgovina and Ukraine join the EU.

September 15th: At the turn of the 21st century, Yemen was already the poorest and least developed nation in the Arab world. Nearly 45% of its citizens were living below the poverty line, unemployment was running at 35% and its literacy rate was just 58%. It had dwindling natural resources and a ballooning population. Its economy was heavily reliant on hydrocarbons, which accounted for almost 75% of government revenues and 90% of foreign exchange earnings. Yemen reached peak oil production in 2003 and witnessed a steady decline thereafter. In 2011, a popular uprising erupted due to worsening economic conditions, rising unemployment and government corruption. This was sparked by simultaneous protests in other Middle Eastern countries. Over the next few years, the situation continued to deteriorate. Power blackouts and food shortages became a daily norm, while motorists were forced to queue their vehicles for hours at petrol stations. The country had no apparent way of transitioning to a post-carbon economy. Its neighbour, Saudi Arabia, attempted to stabilise the political and economic situation by donating oil. By the middle of the decade, however, Saudi Arabia itself was experiencing shortfalls, meaning it could no longer offer this support. Yemen's push into the gas sector had also failed to revive its economy significantly.

The Collapse of society in Yemen

Alongside this, a new and even greater threat was emerging. Yemen's groundwater levels had fallen sharply in recent decades. Around the capital, Sana'a, borehole drilling was now reaching down to water that fell more than 8,000 years ago, with groundwater levels decreasing by 4-6 metres a year. Additional wells and water mains were desperately needed to service the region, but these for the most part had been lost among the nation's various other problems. Yemen had been battling Shiite Muslim rebels in the north and a separatist movement in the south, whilst contending with a resurgence of Al Qaeda and the scourge of piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

By 2017, a calamity was unfolding. Oil and gas reserves have now dwindled to zero and Sana'a has become the first capital city in the world to completely run out of water. The situation has been made worse by rising fuel prices. Trucks bringing supplies from outside are no longer able to make up the shortfall – resulting in widespread looting, rioting and violence. This soon gives way to starvation, a mass exodus of refugees and a rapid decline in the country's population which continues into the following decade. The state collapses into anarchy, with a zone of lawlessness expanding into Saudi Arabia and the Horn of Africa.

The New Mega City

The outside world watches, powerless, as this tragedy unfolds. Though assistance is offered by other countries, including some military intervention, it cannot prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. Yemen now faces a very uncertain future, threatening stability across the region.

Nine of the cities in southern China merge to become a Giant Megacity. This new megacity has a population of 42 million – over 7 million greater than Tokyo, the previous record holder. The cities being merged include Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the second and third largest cities in China with populations of 11.7 million and 8.9 million, respectively. This region covers much of China's manufacturing heartland, accounting for nearly a tenth of the Chinese economy. Around 150 major infrastructure projects have meshed the transport, energy, water and telecommunications networks of these nine cities together, at a cost of some 2 trillion yuan ($304 billion). An express railway line connects the hub with nearby Hong Kong.

18th September: The Nubucco Gas Pipeline is Completed, it spans from East Turkey to Vienna, Austria into Germany and the Czech Republic.

3rd October: The Diabang Dam in India is completed, a nearby Dam in China reduces the amount of water the dam is getting, stiring tensions.

17th October: China lands a man on the Moon.

Web connected devices exceed the Earth's populationaccine

3rd November: First HIV Vaccine released to the public.

26th November: On a historic day in Africa the five sovereign states of the East African Community – Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda – as a single federated sovereign state. They adopt a common currency, the East African Shilling. They adopt a common currency and become the fourth largest country in Africa. It was due to be established in 2015 but was prosponed due to conflict in Burundi. It is the 17th Largest country in the world by area and tenth by population (151 million)[1]

Refugees from Yemen begin causing unrest in Saudi Arabia and the Horn of Africa.

1st January: Uganda enforces a death penalty for transsexuals.

27th April: A missile defence shield, construction underway since 2011, now protects the European continent.

The rail network

3rd May: The first Private Super-Sonic Jet is deployed.

7th June: The African Central Bank is established, a common currency, the Afro, is due to be introduced in 2021. The African Union gains more power and the decision is set to bring a brighter economic future to Africa.

18th July: Lesotho is annexed by South Africa after the life expectancy fell from 34 to 29 in eight years. The country was on its last legs and Trade Unionist Vuyani Tyhali gained popular support in a political party he set up in 2016, called The Merger Party.

2nd September: Polio is eradicated

This year sees a major rail network completed in East Africa. Built by a Chinese state-owned firm and partly funded by China's government, the 14 billion USD Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is the largest infrastructure project in the region's history. The SGR connects a number of major cities – greatly boosting trade and investment while reducing the times needed to move people and goods across borders. The cost of sending a tonne of freight one kilometre is slashed from $0.20 to $0.08, with a typical journey between Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa cut from 12 hours to just four. Until now, the region had relied almost exclusively on road transport.

Nigeria's last rain forest is felled.

18th November: The First Surgery performed fully by robots is conducted in Austria.

7th July: Rand Paul receives widespread criticism for resisting NATO when it decided to get involved in the Palestine and Kurdistan Wars. He insists that it would not have the USA's best interests at heart.

19th July: A fascist Golden Dawn parliament is elected in Greece with 53% of the vote.

26th July: Golden Dawn threatens to leave the EU.

3rd August: Rand Paul is assassinated at 11:06 am. It is believed to be conducted by a Tea Party Member against his Isolationist Policies. The explosion kills 21 people, injuring 34 and destroying 17 cars.

8th August: The Republican Party splits into two, the Republican Party and the Patriot Party. Patriot Party Member and Rand Paul's Vice President, Vince Bryson, becomes President.

21st August: Vince Bryson announced his plans to involve the US in the wars in the Middle East.

7th September: South Ossetia wins its Independence.

28th September: US Troops land in Palestine.

2nd October: US troops land in Iraq.

21st November: An American border town is burned to the ground and all of its 54 residents are killed by Mexican Drug Lords. Vince Bryson made a statement that it was a Mexican Sign of Aggression by the new Drug Cartel-Run Government.

8th February: The National Front comes into Power in France in a coalition.

12th February: The National Front is outlawed in France, the President citing "The Extreme violation of human rights shown by the party and actions offensive to the better side of humanity co-produced with Hitler-Supporting Fascism". The decsion sparks riots throughout the country.

28th February: The European High-Commissioner appeals for a Federal EU, claiming it is needed to combat the growing Ultranationalist Fascist movement on Mainland Europe.

8th June: 5G phones are released.

12th July: Africa and the Middle East are linked by a transcontinental bridge This 15-year megaproject – costing over 200 billio USD – involves the construction of two entire new cities, at either ends of a 29 km (18 mi) bridge. Dubbed the "Bridge of the Horns", it spans the southern mouth of the Red Sea, connecting Yemen (Middle East) to Djibouti (Africa). With support for cars, light rail and freight trains, it greatly facilitates the movement of people, trade and resources between the two continents. Each of the hi-tech cities at either end of the bridge is powered almost entirely by renewable energy. Many other green technologies and sustainable development practices are utilised. As their populations grow, they become major commercial, education and tourist hubs of the region. A highway is also built, linking them to Dubai. [4]

6th October: Abkhazia gains independence from Georgia.

12th November: Konxa Technology City, Kenyan Province, East African Federation is completed, known as Silicon Savannah, it launches the East African Federation into a global Technology Player.[5]

6th January: The UAE sends an unmanned probe to Mars, the first Arabian Country to do so.

21st April: A Cure for Malaria is found.

3rd June: Estonia Joins the Nordic Council.

3rd July: In a Referendum Greenland votes for Independence from Denmark by 76%. Its economy relies heavily on Fishing, Tourism.[6]

3rd October: South Sudan joins the East African Federation.

Ultra High Definition is the common standard of TV picture quality in Europe and North America.

13th November: Holographic TVs are invented.

2nd December: "The Great City" in China is completed, Its worlds first Car-Free, self sufficient eco-friendly city is completed in China. It houses 80,000 people and used half the water and electricity and 80% less landfill than an average city of its size. [7]

16th March: Kurdistani Rebels, with the help of American troops, secure their freedom. The focused efforts in Kurdistan give rebels in Palestine an easier time.

Countries using the Afro

24th March: After being severely crushed in the Kurdistani Wars, Syria and Iraq, both also recovering from ISIS, unite and form the Ba'ath Socialist Republic.

18th April: Civil Unrest in Saudi Arabia turns to full scale conflict. The string of conflicts in the Middle East begins to be named the Arab Autumn, or in the US, the Arab Fall.

26th April: Palestinian rebels storm Jerusalem, Israel falls and the state is re-established under Hamas rule. Millions of Israelis flee by boat to nearby Cyprus.

29th April: American Forces attempt to retake Palestine with no avail.

19th June: Vice Bryson receives an approval rating of just 21%.

31st June: The US economy goes bankrupt due to excessive military spending, the Construction of a giant Mexican Border Wall and Security, The dollar's value decreases by 500%, becoming almost worthless. Riots erupt throughout the country.

A Political Map of the World cira December 31st 2022

8th August: The Second American Civil War Begins.

16th August: The African Monetary Union is established and the Afro Currency is adopted by many states.

18th August: A Mexico opens three refugee centres near Texas.

3rd September: The Egyptian-Sudanese Water Wars end. It was fought over who controls the majority of the Nile due to water scarcity, finish after the Treaty of Alexandria is signed after Egypt annexed half of Sudan, threatening its existence.

19th September: Texas declares Independence from the Union.

21st September: Mexico declares War on the USA.

A Map of the Mexican/American Front

8th November: The southern parts of Arizona, New Mexico and a small part of Southern California, including San Diego, fall to Mexico.

18th November: All US troops on foreign soil are recalled.

20th December: The Battle of Denver ends in Mexican Victory after 18 days of fighting.

28th December: Advancing Mexican Troops capture two thirds of Utah, all of Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma, later known as the Occupied Territories.

30th December: American Forces win the Battle of Las Vegas, securing The Remainder of California and Nevada is secured.

sources being spent on the war with Mexico Rebels have an easy time fighting against the Military.

7th March: The worlds first Hypersonic Missiles are being used. Hypersonic planes are expected within the next 15 years.

30th June: The US launches and Offensive against Mexico, pushing the Mexican Front Back.

4th August: Cascadia is reclaimed by the USA.

7th September: The US forces advance into Mexico.

20th September: The border Treaty of Tucson is signed, New Mexico and half of Arizona become Mexican while the US take Baja California and a strip of the West Coast of Mexico, but the US was severely weakened and the revolution pressed on.

30th September: The growing tensions in the Caucasus leads to full scale regional conflict.

12th October: The northern Provinces of West Iran vote to join Azerbaijan after political pressure is put on the Government.

18th October: After seeing the secession of Both the Kurdish and Azerbaijani areas of Iran, the Arabs of Khūzestān demanded independence for the proposed state of Al-Ahwaz. They are declined and the month-long Ahwaz War begins.

17th November: After the economic strain of yet another secessionist movement the Iranian government grants independence to the Arabs and the country of Al-Ahwaz is established. Increased tensions against the government by their own former supporters in Tehran lead to demonstrations. Many because they feared The Tehran Government had become `The weak slaves of Sunni Muslims` and others because they wanted greater freedoms under a secular government. The Balochistan people of East Iran, South Afghanistan and West Pakistan also demanded Independence and had begun lobbying even greater for Independence. The Iranian strategy of letting the two regions costing them greatly due to political turmoil had backfired and now the land that didn't demand succession demanded a new government. Iran is nicknamed worldwide as the Land of Divided Nations. In Iran the media mockingly dubs it "The Second Revolution", signifying the government had been defeated.

28th December: Due to lack of control, the Turkmen of Golestan province unofficially vote in an illegal referendum to join Turkmenistan.

8th May: The Nordic Council, consisting of Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark unite to form the Nordic Federation. There was preexisting support for such a union but the rise of Fascism in Russia scared the members into taking action.

12th July: The Vladmir Zhirinovsky, the new Russian President, issues "Our Great Solution ", a plan that encourages the mass killing and chaos that would follow. Although the Russian Government would never kill any minorities, special youth camps of the LDPR along with advertisements and adult education courses that encouraged the killing and execution of all non White, Heterosexual Slavic Russians.

5th September: The United Republics of Caucasus are founded, they are a group of de facto republics in Russia's Caucasus. Another de facto state that didn't join the United Republics was Dagestan.

7th November: Somaliland is now recognized by 30 countries.

19th November: NATO dissolves after many members leave, citing that Europe is ready for its first 100 years of peace, the plan which was demise to the military union was devised by the European Court, NATO was one of the main assistance the US had holding back rebels, with NATO out of the way The US rebel factions gain more ground. The main proponents in the civil war were, The Cascade rebels on the west coast, The "Jeffers" of the West Coast, The Natives in the Dakotas, The Confederacy and the Vermonters.

7th April: The Chittagong region of Bangladesh, a largely Buddhist Region, blocks the road to the rest of the country, declaring its independence after human rights abuses against them by the Muslim government because of their religion, including the abduction of children and forced conversion.

20th April: After the government threatens action against the separatists, The UN steps in and convinces the Bangladesh government to back down and grant Independence, arguably the first time the UN have been effective in a conflict situation.

"Printable" Electronics

Printed Electronics are Ubiquitous, Many previously bulky or heavy devices can now be folded, stored or carried as easily as sheets of paper. This includes flexible TV displays that can be rolled or hung like posters. Also widespread are electronic newspapers with moving pictures, "smart" packaging and labels with animated text, along with signage in retail outlets that can be updated shop-wide at the touch of a button. Multimedia players with expandable, fold-out touchscreens are especially popular. Even low-end models are now the size and weight of credit cards and can easily fit inside a wallet. With petabytes of storage, gigapixels of screen resolution and super fast transfer speeds, they are orders of magnitude more powerful than iPods of the previous decade. They are also completely wireless – no cables or physical connections of any kind are required, with music being enjoyed using wireless earphones. [8]

18th June: The Mammoth, the Dodo, The Wild Pigeon, the Pyrenean Ibex among 6 other animal species have been de-extincted and now have growing populations thanks to Cloning, Genetic Engineering and Selective Breeding. Animals such as Dwarf Elephants are expected to be able to be revived within four years. The rapid growth in Cloning technology means that within fifty years Neanderthals could possibly be cloned. [9][10]

4th April: The Mars One Mission, first ship launched 2022, second launched 2025, both have now landed on Mars and a Mars base housing 40 people exists on the southern end of the planet.

18th May: Adam Worthington, a rebel leader, leads rebels to victory on the Mississippi River, half of America has been liberated and tensions in California break out in riots.

29th May: Rebels in North California march down into San Francisco where the US government fled after the siege of DC.

Laura Anderson, the first President of the Federate States of America

12th June: The rebels led by Adam Worthington and the North California rebels meet and group together.

20th July: Vince Bryson, the US president, is captured by rebels after the rebels storm the Transamerica Pyramid building in San Francisco.

21st July: The Former US government collapses.

22nd July: All Congress members are hung in L.A, besides Vince Bryson who is burned alive.

18th September: Order is restored in the US. The country is left divided into many nations, the Republic of Jefferson, The Republic of Cascadia, The Lakota Republic, The Confederate Gulf Republic, Alaska, Hawaii, The Second Vermont Republic and the Second Texas Republic and the Federated States of America (which new name was in dispute)

22nd October: Laura Anderson, a Rebel from Chicago and a fearsome opponent of Adam Worthington is elected the first president of the Federated States of America. She promises peace and neutrality and announces her support for other breakaway countries, she also announces that the Vermont Republic, ruled by Federate Rebels will be granted independence.

8th November: The Murrawarri Republic is recognized as a sovereign state and a cultural homeland for the Aboriginals by the UN, slowly foreign nations begin to recognize the state, but Australia claims such claims are an attack on its national sovereignty. The original land claims were extended dramatically to give them a diverse region to call home.

Personalised adverts – similar in style to those seen in the film Minority Report – are becoming widespread by the end of this decade. Microsensors embedded in posters and other outdoor media can identify people by the chips in their mobile phone, credit card and other personal effects. These adverts are then customised depending on the interests and lifestyle of the person in question. Pairs of ultrasonic beams – targeted to intersect at specific points – deliver a localised sound message that only a single person can hear. This means that even in crowded situations, the adverts can be made personal and unique. Civil liberties campaigners decry the use of such technology, given the anxiety and paranoia resulting from such marketing tactics; but the demands of business win through.

The wreck of the Titanic has almost completely dissolved.

20th May: The Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is granted Independence.

6th July: A Base on the Moon is set up by the European Space Agency and the Chinese Space Authority.

The Federated States of America in Red and Blue

8th November: Adam Worthington, a formal rebel leader, writes a book, "The Woman who Defecated on America", attacking Laura Anderson as being a "traitor". He writes that all of "Greater America" should be re-united and that they need to show strength and spread the influence of a great, strong America. The book is heavily criticised and does not sell well.

The Dodo becomes the most popular pet of the year, due to the creature's passive and friendly nature (which made it easy prey for Dutch Hunters which led to its extinction) and the creature's lack of knowledge all contribute to the factors of why it becomes the most sought after pet of the year. This is the first year ever a de-extinct animal has been sold on the public market.

12th July: The Assam war in Northeast India ends by treaty recognizing the independence of the North East Region. The People's Naxalite Maoist republic of East Indian Skikim-Assam becomes an official country.